Ontario Premier Doug Ford during a visit to the Austin Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, in Texas.Sergio Flores/The Globe and Mail
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his vision for significantly changing Toronto’s waterfront – including plans for an expanded downtown island airport – is necessary to boost the economy of both the city and the province.
In an interview in Austin, Tex., this week while on a trade mission to strengthen ties between Canada and the United States, Mr. Ford laid out his plans for the downtown Toronto waterfront. They include a redeveloped Ontario Place with a waterpark and spa, a new convention centre and an expanded Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to allow for jets. He said he’d like the airport expansion done as soon as possible.
“We’re in a very competitive market around the world, and we can’t be messing around with red tape and regulations and bureaucracy,” Mr. Ford said during an interview at the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m going to push like I’ve never pushed before, because it’s the right thing to do.”
The Premier in recent months has unveiled a number of proposals to remake Toronto’s waterfront, which has raised the ire of critics who say he is overriding Mayor Olivia Chow to impose his ideas on the city without consultation.
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The plans include recently unveiled designs for a new $1.04-billion Ontario Science Centre, which is being relocated to the Ontario Place redevelopment from the city’s northeast. Mr. Ford has also floated the idea of building a two-million-square-foot convention centre on infill land, and his government intends to seize land from the city of Toronto so he can override objections from Ms. Chow and execute his plan to expand runways at Billy Bishop airport to allow for jets.
Mr. Ford told The Globe his plans are all about economic development.
“We have a crown jewel downtown,” he said.
“We’re going to build a world-class convention centre to attract conventions from around the world. And wouldn’t it be amazing? You land at the airport, you hop on a water taxi, you pull right into the hotel – literally in the boat – and then you go to the convention, and then you can go over and the kids can go to the waterpark. That could be incredible.”
Mr. Ford has said the province will expropriate the municipal government’s interest in the airport, located on the Toronto Islands, and declare it a “special economic zone,” meaning any provincial or municipal law could be overridden to speed up construction.
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At present, Air Canada and Porter Airlines only fly smaller turboprop planes from Billy Bishop, although the question of whether or not jets should be permitted has been debated for about 40 years.
A decades-old agreement currently governs the airport. The deal, called a tripartite agreement, was first signed by the city, the Toronto Port Authority, which is a federal agency, and the federal government in 1983.
That means any changes to the airport would have to be negotiated by the province and the federal government.
In the interview, Mr. Ford said the idea of expanding the downtown airport is “very, very popular” and an added convenience for travellers who want options besides the larger suburban Toronto Pearson Airport. He also said an expanded airport would lead to thousands of jobs.
“It’s going to be more competitive for people and that’s what it’s all about, getting lower cost flights,” he said.
On Friday, Braman Thillainathan, a spokesperson for Ms. Chow, said the city has not received a formal proposal to expand the airport or to build a new convention centre.
“At this point, the mayor’s position is that both provincial and federal governments need to make their plans transparent to Torontonians, rather than media announcements,” he said in a written statement, adding that Ms. Chow has brought a motion to council to demand that Toronto residents have a say in the future of the waterfront.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has called Mr. Ford’s proposal to expand the airport “an interesting vision,” but hasn’t formally approved the plan.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. But Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz, chair of the federal Toronto caucus, said earlier this week that any decisions about the airport must be done in consultation with residents, and agreed to by all parties.